Hawaii Ignores Trump, Is First State To Pass Law Committing To Paris Climate Accord

The governor of Hawaii on Tuesday signed a bill that aligns the state’s carbon emissions with the Paris climate accord.

Gov. David Ige signed the bill that calls on documenting sea level rise and set strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Many of the greatest challenges of our day hit us first, and that means that we also need to be first when it comes to creating solutions,” Mr. Ige, a Democrat, said, according to The New York Times. “We are the testing grounds — as an island state, we are especially aware of the limits of our natural environment.” Read more at Fox News.

Theoretically, the Logan Act of 1799 should make this illegal, but it has rarely been used in over 200 years. In today’s legal environment, Hawaii’s actions would probably be protected by the First Amendment – especially since they are in the Ninth Circuit, v’dai l’chakima…

On the other hand, this has no practical meaning – unless they are willing to pay out the extortion that the Paris Accords demand from the US, out of their own pockets, as noted by anonymous at 11:44. What they want to do with their own standard of living and tax rates is up to them. But – and it’s a big but – if they try to impose restrictions on what can be sold in the State, for example, by only allowing “green” products, they would be in violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause, and not even the Ninth Circus could save them.

[Actually, I take that back. I don’t put anything past that particular Circuit].